It would appear that Samsung will not be the only tech firm dealing with a sales ban in Germany, as patent licence management firm
IPCom announced that it is executing an injunction against HTC in order to halt the sale and distribution of its 3G mobile devices within that country.
The company stated that Taiwanese
smartphone and
tablet maker HTC has withdrawn its appeal against an earlier judgment, which found HTC to be infringing upon patents held and managed by IPCom. This appeal would have been heard today in the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court.
The patent in question deal with an algorithm that allows mobile telephony networks to assign priorities to users on the basis of a pre-defined hierarchy, which allows for the smooth functioning of the system during emergencies. According to IPCom, this algorithm has been adopted as a standard by equipment makers worldwide.
IPCom said that it will now look to execute the injunction in the shortest possible time.
“Apparently, HTC has accepted it had no realistic chance of winning this case – the courts have clearly established that HTC has been infringing our patents and now given us the means to put a stop to it,” said Bernhard Frohwitter, IPCom’s managing director.
“Since HTC has never to come up with an offer that adequately reflects the value of these patents, IPCom has been left with no choice – we will use the right awarded by the courts, likely resulting in HTC devices disappearing from shops during the crucial Christmas season.”
Besides its patent battle with HTC, IPCom is also seeking similar injunctions against Finnish phone giant
Nokia with regard to the same patents, as well as a number of other standard-essential patents. These cases are being handled by the same court in Germany, under the same judge.
The company said that it hopes “Nokia will swiftly recognise that it, too, needs to come to terms with IPCom if it is not to suffer the same fate as HTC.”
